All of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) have members whose terms of appointment expire this August or September. To ensure a timely nomination and selection process, we have developed guidelines for BLM State Office submittal of recommendations to the BLM Washington Office (WO). Once again, a key element will be a "RAC Information Book" (Attachment 1) to consolidate all the necessary information about nominees for each RAC.

Charters

We have already begun the RAC rechartering process in coordination with the Idaho State Office, whose charters expire this year.

New Members

Recruitment of new members for each RAC as terms expire is essential. Your public outreach efforts will be critical for success in attracting new nominees with new ideas, viewpoints, and representation. For each term expiring this year, you must submit a minimum of two qualified candidates for each vacancy. Council membership shall remain balanced among the following three categories:

· Representatives of State, county, or local elected office; representatives and employees of a State agency responsible for management of natural resources; representatives of Indian Tribes within or adjacent to the area for which the Council is organized; representatives of and employed as academicians involved in natural sciences; and the public-at-large.

You must ensure that we continue to have a balanced representation of the various interests and users of the public lands.

Call for Nominations

The Washington Office will publish a Bureauwide call for public nominations in the FederalRegister for all RACs. The FederalRegister notice will provide general information about the RACs, including their purpose, composition, and the procedures for submitting nominations. It will also provide the names of BLM State Office contacts for providing specific information about RAC vacancies and for receiving nominations (see Attachment 2). Your office should also issue media announcements and actively recruit to fill RAC vacancies at open houses or other appropriate forums. The nomination period will be open for 45 days from the publication date of the FederalRegister notice.

Citizens may nominate themselves or others and all nominees must be residents of the State(s) for which the RAC is organized. In addition:

· At least one member of each RAC must be an elected official of general purpose government serving the people within the geographic area a RAC represents;

· All nominations must be accompanied by letters of reference from interests or organizations represented;

· Each nominee must submit a completed Background Information Nomination Form; and

·All nominees should have demonstrated a commitment to collaborative resource decision-making.

You should evaluate each nominee based on his or her education, training, and experience and knowledge of the issues and the geographical area of the RAC.

Coordination with Governors

Under the provisions of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Secretary of the Interior is the designated official for appointing RAC members. However, consideration of your Governor’s candidates is an important step to initiate early in the nomination process. The Secretary wants you to fully consider all nominees and to ultimately advance those you recommend as most qualified for her selection as RAC members.

RAC Information Book

The RAC Information Book will serve as a guide for consolidating all BLM State Office information about RAC nominees and for facilitating Washington Office review. Specifically, the RAC Information Book must include:

a.Your detailed transmittal memorandum, providing the names of your recommended nominees and specific reasons for endorsement, and the names of exiting members;

Please refer to the attached prototype RAC Information Book for samples of documents that will help us expedite the nomination and appointment process. We will electronically transmit these documents to your office to facilitate completion of information and electronic transmittal back to us. Our Intergovernmental Group (WO-640) will contact your External Affairs Officers regarding the specifics of these documents.

Timetable for RAC Nominations

To ensure timely review and action on the 2006 RAC nominations at all levels, we have established the following timetable:

2/8/06: The Director (640) publishes in the FederalRegister a Bureauwide call for public nominations, with a 45-day period for submitting nominations; State Directors issue media announcements, providing specifics about RAC positions to be filled;

3/27/06: Nomination period closes, as announced in the FederalRegister on February 8;

5/26/06: State nomination packages are transmitted electronically and sent by mail to the Intergovernmental Staff (640).

I cannot emphasize strongly enough what effective partners the RACs have been in helping resolve public land issues that affect the West’s quality of life. The nominees we will soon put forward for the Secretary’s consideration should be of the highest caliber to ensure continuity of these Councils.

You should forward your completed nomination packages to WO-640; MS LSB 406, by May 26, 2006. Should you or your staff have any questions, please contact Karen Slater, WO-640, at (202) 452-0358 or Melanie Wilson Gore, WO-640, at (202) 452-0377.